(Photo: Graduating Students of the First UQIDAR Batch)

The 54^th IIT Delhi Annual Convocation ceremony was indeed a milestone event for the University of Queensland (UQ)-IIT Delhi Academy of Research (UQIDAR), as its first batch of students received the joint PhD degree. Alok Kumar Ray, Vallari R. Chourasia, Imon Chakraborthy, and Abdullah Mohammed Bareen are the four scholars who were conferred with the PhD degree at the Convocation ceremony.

The graduating students highlighted the combined research strengths of UQ and IIT Delhi in varied interdisciplinary areas.

In a congratulatory message for the graduating students, UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry AO said, "For the graduands, this is the culmination of their doctoral research, but it’s really just the start of their contributions to global society. The research conducted by our students seeks to solve our shared global challenges in areas related to healthy ageing; feeding the world, environmental resilience, technology for tomorrow, and transforming societies. I hope that our joint Ph.D. graduands always seek to create positive change in the world around them. I congratulate them wholeheartedly on their achievement."

In an address to the Academy’s students and faculty at a pre-graduation event, Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT Delhi, also congratulated the graduating students.

It is noteworthy that the graduating scholars have secured multiple job offers in academia and industry.

The UQ-IITD Academy of Research (Academy) was established in 2018 as an unincorporated joint venture between the University of Queensland (UQ) and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) to realize their shared vision of contributing to the world through research excellence.

The Academy represents an innovative partnership that aims to develop a substantial transnational collaborative research program with the flagship initiative of a joint Ph.D. The Academy currently has about 104 students enrolled.

                                                                                                                   *****